Labor History Month Resolution

Floor Speech

* Ms. LINDA T. SÁNCHEZ of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to support a Resolution expressing the sense of the House that a ``National Labor History Month'' should be established.

* Today, most Americans work in clean, well-lit, well-ventilated, air-conditioned workplaces. So it is all too easy to forget the desperate conditions in which our grandparents and their grandparents often toiled. Child labor was commonplace. Workers were subjected to dangerous work environments, and were often forced to put themselves at risk of death or serious injury in order to put food on the table for their families. Women were especially attractive employees--because you could pay them less for the exact same work. The labor movement played a leading role in ending these inhumane and unfair practices. And for this, all modern Americans owe a debt of gratitude.

* In addition to fighting against the exploitation of workers, labor leaders also played a significant role in the civil rights movement, fighting to end racial discrimination in the workplace. As early as World War II, labor leaders fought to end racial discrimination against African-Americans working in the defense industry. And Cesar Chávez's United Farmworkers Union fought not only for labor rights, but for equal rights for Latinos in countless walks of life. This resolution will help us pay tribute to those who put themselves on the line for all of America's working men and women.

* What they fought for represents the best of the American character. I urge all my colleagues to support this bi-partisan effort to recognize the importance of the labor movement to America's history.

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